SNOWY PLOVER NEST

[Marina Scarr]

Had the good fortune to photograph this nest a few years back in Fort Myers. Since I didn't have a long lens at the time, a good friend of mine allowed me to slip my card into his camera. Not an easy nest to shoot for a variety of reasons, but I was pretty happy when the male showed me his precious eggs for this capture. The eggs appears to large in comparison to the shorebird.

Canon 1D4, Canon 500L & 2XTC
F8, 1/400sec, ISO 400
Tripod

C & C always welcomed and much appreciated.

[dankearl]

Great image Marina, you have had this for years?
The plant is really nice and the eggs are over the top.
An award winner!

[Satish Ranadive]

Gorgeous image of handsome bird in the enviornment. Excellent IQ,beautiful colors and superb composition.
I like the inclusion of artistic green leaves,beautiful light direction and superb details in whites.

Regards,
Satish.

[PhilCook]

All that beauty and cuteness, very precious...and a little Christmas Tree thrown in as well :bg3: Exposure looks great particularly with a hint of gold in the light and I think filling the frame with subject matter looks great in this example. OK, so I'm not particularly fussed about the stick lying on the shelley beach in front, but I guess in a perfect world it would be better not being there, but no biggie imo.

Love the little tree !

[Shawn Zierman]

Pivotal moment captured very well. The off angle lighting, (which you probably could not do anything about), was handled nicely. Perfect shooting angle. The plant was good luck... Those eggs do look large once pointed out....How do you differentiate sex with this species?

[Jonathan Ashton]

What a fine shot, the composition is excellent and the content - bird, plant, nest eggs all make for a very rewarding image. The brightest parts don't appear to be blown but if possible I would tone them down just a tad, only because they keep drawing my eye.

[Karl Egressy]

Love the very nice side light and of course seeing the eggs is priceless, Marina.

[Troy Lim]

Very nice image. I love the side lighting which creates a different feel to the image.
They eggs are huge.

[Melissa Groo]

Wonderful setting, light, and story here, Marina. I really like the little tree, the view of those disproportionately large eggs, the plover's downward gaze and of course your great low angle. I would be tempted to tone down the whites in the rump.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I thought of a little Christmas tree even before reading Phil's comment, but then you have Easter eggs too!:S3: Love the warm light, and the directional aspect of it works really well here. Quite precious to see those eggs...

[Grace Scalzo]

Perfect capture of a moment in time. Love the little "tree" and the eggs. As the eye wants to go to the brightest parts of an image, I would tone down the rear, Just a bit.

[Gabriela Plesea]

This is truly a very special image and I love to see the bird in its environment. I do not know anything about the behavior of this species but I would dare assume that this little bird chose a busier spot to nest, using the tree and the sticks as camouflage? Cute beyond words, Marina:S3:, I so enjoyed viewing this!

Kind regards,

[Marina Scarr]

How do you differentiate sex with this species?

The male has the bar across the forehead.

[Frank Schauf]

Great scene and setting you have here.

[edwardselfe]

Awesome image - the little tree balances the bird and nest perfectly. I immediately noticed the blueish cast on the pebbles, but then decided that I think it works with the golden hues everywhere else. Just wondered if you'd intentionally left it there, or perhaps it's just my monitor! Really lovely photo. Surprised that you got enough dof at f8 with a 500mm+2x but you certainly did - perhaps this is not FF....
Beautifully composed and exposed.
Ed

[Bill Dix]

What a fine scene. Some green always seems to add to an image; maybe the little Plover knew that. And of course the eggs make this a special shot. Nice light, albeit just a bit strong. I might be tempted to lower the contrast just a tad.

[Marina Scarr]

I immediately noticed the blueish cast on the pebbles, but then decided that I think it works with the golden hues everywhere else. Just wondered if you'd intentionally left it there, or perhaps it's just my monitor! Surprised that you got enough dof at f8 with a 500mm+2x but you certainly did - perhaps this is not FF.

So glad you noticed and pointed out the cast, Ed, which I determined was cyan. I feel the image looks better without the cast. I just checked and this image is about a 40% crop. We were pretty far from the next which explains why F8 worked quite well.

[Shawn Zierman]

Thanks for the feedback regarding sexing the species....how did I not know that already!? Glad I asked though...

[edwardselfe]

So glad you noticed and pointed out the cast, Ed, which I determined was cyan. I feel the image looks better without the cast. I just checked and this image is about a 40% crop. We were pretty far from the next which explains why F8 worked quite well.

Yes agreed - just removed the cast fro myself in LR and I think it's better. Fantastic image all considered.
Ed